Bhubaneswar: It was certainly a rivalry at its best as England scraped past Ireland 4-2 in their final Pool B encounter of the Men’s Hockey World Cup at the Kalinga Stadium here Friday.
With this fighting victory England entered the cross-overs while Ireland were sent packing from the prestigious event. China also made it through to the knock-out round courtesy their previous two draws.
England started aggressively from the start and put huge pressure on Ireland. Their effort yielded result and the Red Shirts earned their first penalty corner in the fourth minute through Liam Ansell.
But Mark Gleghorne flicked the shot wide enough. They continued to press harder and were soon rewarded as David Condon scored a brilliant goal in the 14th minute using an assist from Will Calnan. England prevailed in the first quarter with 70 percent possession and they were 1-0 ahead of the Green Machines.
England continued with their surge and put Ireland under immense pressure again in the second quarter. Ireland continued to struggle and failed to make any impact against the Red Shirts. England knocked the ball around into Irish circles but were not creative enough to penetrate.
The Green Machines had flashes of brilliance but were clearly lacking in team effort. Condon’s strike was certainly the difference for England before the half time.
England got nine circle entries and had four shots into the post. But Ireland had only two circle entries and didn’t get any shot into the goal till the first half. Such was the domination of the Red Shirts over the Green Machines in the first half.
Change of ends brought change of fortunes. Irish came back with their energy revitalised. The green Machines looked for space down the left and Chris Cargo put them on level terms in the 34th minute. It was a team effort for Ireland but Cargo had the final touch into the goal post.
However their joy was shot lived as Ansell fired to beat David Harte in the 37th minute to put England 2-1 ahead. It was England-Ireland rivalry at its best in the third quarter. Shane O’Donoghue got the Irish level again in the same minute by converting a penalty corner with the scoreline reading 2-2. The high intensity encounter saw again James Gall putting the English back ahead 3-2 of a cross from Sanford in the 38th minute.
England were into the attack again, but Kirk Shimmins failed to sustain the quick encounter the next minute. In the last minute of the third quarter they had a golden chance to score, but skipper and custodian Harte’s brilliance denied them a sure sort goal. It was 3-2 in favour of the Red Shirts after the completion of the third quarter.
Ireland desperately pressed hard to restore parity in the third quarter and got a penalty corner in the 49th minute thanks to Alan Sothern, but made a mess. The English came back strongly to attack in waves and Harte came to Ireland’s rescue again just after two minutes.
Ireland retaliated to earn another penalty corner in the 53rd minute through Shimmins, but Cargo skied the deflection over the post. Ireland needed at least a draw to make it to the crossovers and they launched a barrage of attack on English citadels during the end, but failed to get the equaliser. Three Lions roared back to stamp their authority with a goal through Gleghorne in the last minute and ensure a convincing 4-2 victory.